Dear all,
I'm looking for a TEFL position in either Spain or Italy with my boyfriend. We are both Irish and hold TEFL certificates. However, so far we have been unsuccessfull with our applications online. Do you think it's a wise idea to travel to one of these destinations and try and get a job when we're there or is having one fixed up before we go a better plan? We are both newly qualified so we don't have much experience. Please help!

I'm new to this site and to TESOL, which will be very apparent when I say what I'm going to say.

Why is it that every time people ask about teaching in Europe, many people suggest Asia? To teach in Asia, I'm guessing, isn't very easy if you do not enjoy Asian culture. I can imagine that the cultural differences between Spain/Italy and Japan/Thailand would be so immense as to make the choices between the countries similar to the old fashioned apples and oranges comparison.

Not to change the topic, but this strikes a chord with me. To the irritation of many career teachers on here, I am a newbie/rookie/green, or whatever you want to call me. I'm still naive. Soon I'll be done my CELTA and be looking for a job, and I cannot imagine that any Asian country would be a substitute for desires to teach in a European country. In the Asian countries you'd be surrounded by a completely foreign language (you could sound out Spanish and Italian, but not Japanese or Thai), and you'd encounter a completely different culture. I attended a Germany university for a year, and despite the cultural similarities (the food and the clothes, etc. were all relatively western) I experienced culture shock. I couldn't imagine how amplified this would be being plunked down in Asia.

I guess I'm too new to new to understand the impetus many seem to have for Asia.

I can imagine it's quite irritating when you ask about a specific region and people advise a completely different part of the world.

Those who do so are probably thinking that there are more and better paying jobs in Asia. I don't have any direct experience with Spain or Italy, but from what I've heard, most places won't pay you very well.

But having moved to Japan from the US (and it was my first time overseas), I can completely understand why you wouldn't want to go Asia for your first trip abroad. Or ever, if thathat's your choice.

If both you and your boyfriend hold EU passports, I imagine that eventually you'll get a job in Europe. Whether or not you should go go to Spain or Italy and try your luck, perhaps people with experience in those countries can advise you.

I don't wish to offend anyone but it has to be said that native English speakers come across to me as highly naive and delusional in their belief that there is work for them just about anywhere.
This is why many hinted at possibilities to work in Asia rather than in Europe..
European countries don't normally hire travelling teachers. And they don't normally accept TESOL, TEFL or TESL certs as sufficient proof of a candidate's teaching qualifications.
In European countries, local English teachers have an education-specific university degree, and they get hired by public schools that, like the university where the teacher graduated from, are supervised by the national education authority.
Interestingly, Italy and Spain seem to be relatively tolerant of non-degreed teachers from outside of the EU. These two countries still belong to Europe's "Catholic poor" although it has to be said that they have improved their standards of living enormously over the last 3 decades. Anyway, they bend some rules more readily than the more straitlaced protestant countries in the North do.
But from feedback I have been getting since last summer, it appears that Spain's private language institutes are undergoing a period of crisis and metamorphosis. Many have ceased their operations, and some have not even paid their teachers' salaries.

Dear all,
Thanks to everyone who replied. Well, Spain doesn't sound too promising or do other people think differently? How about Italy; as anyone actually succeeded in finding a job there after they arrive? If you have any information PLEASE reply I'm desperate for some sunny weather!
Thanks again,
Kezz

Turkey is still the best bet. It is not in the EU, although some dearly wish it were. You wil get enough to live and and save a bit for tavel. In Istanbul or in the south it is okay. Not sure about ankara and Anatolia.

In Greece, Italy, Portugal you will find it difficult to earn enough for food and shelter !

I would go along with the Turkish idea not because I am here already but as one poster said it is still outside of Europe but not for much longer the weather is pretty good most of the time but not tropical and you're still not too far from home if the old brown stuff hits the fan . The far East although exotic sounds like a pain and its sooooooo far away any way the football is better over here if thats your bag as well ,I could write a whole brochure extolling the virtues about the place suffice to say the bad press it gets is undeserved but why should I tell you I want the place all to myself and 72 million others .

Thanks for all the good advice people and taking the time to write your thoughts down. Can I ask Roger how he has so much time to write a)so many posts and b) long long posts at that?
Thanks again and best of luck to you all in your careers.

Flea - What internet sites are you searching on? TEFL.com usually has many jobs in Italy for EU citizens. I don't know anything about Spain, but in Italy with two incomes you could live well enough. Together you would earn between 1,600 and 2,000 Euros a month. A small apartment will cost around 400-500 in most places. Where are you wanting to go? If you go to a language school, be prepared for them to not have all the hours they promised you initially, but teachers will leave and you will pick up their hours by late November or after Christmas. It takes time to get adjusted to Italy because they want to be sure you're going to stick around. Teaching jobs are slim after June, so now is not a good time to go over unless you can support yourselves through the summer months. They pick up the end of October. Be prepared to teach strange hours from 8am to 9pm and Sat. mornings with long periods of non-teaching wasted time. Speaking Italian is critical in the smaller cities (and most large ones too, for that matter). Good Luck!

Flea - What internet sites are you searching on? TEFL.com usually has many jobs in Italy for EU citizens. I don't know anything about Spain, but in Italy with two incomes you could live well enough. Together you would earn between 1,600 and 2,000 Euros a month. A small apartment will cost around 400-500 in most places. Where are you wanting to go? If you go to a language school, be prepared for them to not have all the hours they promised you initially, but teachers will leave and you will pick up their hours by late November or after Christmas. It takes time to get adjusted to Italy because they want to be sure you're going to stick around. Teaching jobs are slim after June, so now is not a good time to go over unless you can support yourselves through the summer months. They pick up the end of October. Be prepared to teach strange hours from 8am to 9pm and Sat. mornings with long periods of non-teaching wasted time. Speaking Italian is critical in the smaller cities (and most large ones too, for that matter). Good Luck!

To Flea,
"can I ask Roger how he has the time to write so many posts..."
Don't know, maybe I am underworked, permanently on holiday...
If I did not write anything in reply to your first post it was because Io amo Italia, ma non hanno travate in Italia!

I wish you good luck,
and enjoy those ravioli or gnocchi with a bottle of Chianti!